Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Recipe: Healthy Creamy Chicken and Rice Soup

As soon as the weather gets colder, Jesse and I turn into eskimos. All of a sudden we're trawling the aisles of stores searching for the thickest, fluffiest and warmest socks/jumpers/hoodies/etc and thinking up a menu plan for the week filled with steaming hot dishes.

Both of us are not fans of the cold but we are fans of wintery foods, especially soup - and this Healthy Creamy Chicken and Rice Soup Recipe is our current favourite obsession, so much so that we've been making at least a batch a week for lunches and/or dinners.

It's thick and hearty and full of flavour and you would never guess that it's healthy, low fat or gluten free - but that's what makes it even more addictive! We make the soup a couple of different ways so you'll see two versions in the recipe below so you can make the one that best suits you!

Instead of using the stock, add 1 medium leek (or 1 nedium onion) and 2 cloves crushed garlic to the recipe. Finely dice your leek and saute it in 1 tbsp (15g) butter or margarine and a splash of water at the beginning (in the Cuisine Companion, use the slow cooker function, sauteeing the leek on P1 for 5 minutes). Then just use 3C water plus 1-2 additional teaspoons of garlic salt instead.

Stovetop Directions:

If using the stock-free version; first saute your leek (or onion) in 1 tbsp butter with your garlic and a splash of water until translucent and fragrant.

In a large non-stick saucepan over a medium-high heat, add your rice, stock (or water if using the stock free version), herbs, vegetables and garlic salt and bring your mixture to the boil. Add a lid and reduce to a simmer, leaving your soup to bubble away and cook for 30-50 minutes.

Once your vegetables have softened and your rice is cooked, take out half of your soup and add it to a high powered blender or food processor along with your cream cheese. Blend your soup mixture until smooth and add it back to the other half of your soup.

Bring the heat up to medium-high and reduce your soup to your desired thickness, seasoning to taste. We like ours really thick so we usually keep it on the heat for 10-15 minutes, however, our friends and family prefer it at different thicknesses so find what works best for you!

Once your soup has thickened to your liking, pour it into serving dishes, topping with grilled chicken breast and an extra sprinkle of herbs if desired.

The soup will keep for up to a week in the fridge, stored in an airtight container. We usually leave adding the chicken to last as we prefer it that way (simply cooking up the chicken as we heat up the soup on the stove ready to eat), however, you can also cook up 1-2 chicken breasts, chop/shred them and add them into your soup at the end of the cooking time.

Cuisine Companion Directions:

If using the stock-free version; first saute your leek (or onion) on P1 slow cooker program fitted with the ultrablade for 5 minutes with 1 tbsp butter, your garlic garlic and a splash of water. (Quick tip: chop your leek/onion in seconds by processing it on speed 12 for 30 seconds with the ultrablade before adding your other ingredients and starting the slow cooker program)

Add all of your soup ingredients, except for the cream cheese and start the P2 slow cooker program for 45 minutes on 100C with the stopper on max steam.

Once your soup has finished the P2 program, pour half of the soup into a container and then blend the remaining half of your soup with your cream cheese on S12 for 1 1/2-2 minutes or until smooth (to go to manual mode, just switch the CC off and on again).

Add in the other half of your soup mixture, mixing to combine everything on S5 for 30 seconds.

To thicken your soup, manually set the soup on S6 at 130C for 15-30 minutes, depending on how thick you want your soup, leaving the soup to thicken without the stopper and seasoning to taste.

Once your soup has thickened to your liking, pour it into serving dishes, topping with grilled chicken breast and an extra sprinkle of herbs if desired.

The soup will keep for up to a week in the fridge, stored in an airtight container. We usually leave adding the chicken to last as we prefer it that way (simply cooking up the chicken as we heat up the soup on the stove ready to eat), however, you can also cook up 1-2 chicken breasts, chop/shred them and add them into your soup at the end of the cooking time.

But tell me, what are your favourite "winter foods"?

And what's one dinner you keep repeating week after week?

For us it's soup and tacos. Every Tuesday is "Taco Tuesday" in the SIL House because Jesse can never get enough tacos :P

Be sure to leave a comment below to let us know what you think!

It's easy and it makes me look like less of a crazy lunatic talking to herself ;)

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Southern In-Law?

I'm Kristy, twenty-five, a coeliac, major bookworm and married to my very own Southern Gentleman. We've gone from 10,000 miles apart to right beside one another - finally home in Australia together.

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